I had an interesting experience today. During an orientation meeting for planning third-year hospital rotations, I was asked whether I had any hobbies. Now, ordinarily, that might seem like a completely harmless question and under any other circumstances, I would have been able to come up with at least a few. But today, with the pressure of end-of-term exams looming, the idea of having a hobby struck me as almost humorous.
As anyone who is either a medical student or late-life graduate student knows, having free-time activities is important for maintaining some semblance of sanity. At the same time, the idea of having anything that even looks like "free-time" is more of a fantasy than reality. The truth is, taking time for a hobby feels more like stealing because there is always more studying to do.
So, here I am, a time thief, writing instead of studying. Parents face a similar dilemma because, once they're returned home from work, their evenings are absorbed by after school activities, homework, laundry, and bed-time stories. Not that anyone begrudges our children for this, but it's still one of the facts of life. And once the kids are old enough to drive themselves, we wax lyrical about the days when they weren't. Or maybe we become wistful now and again.
I don't have a solution, really. I just know that stolen moments with a novel in the bathroom are better than none at all. And if I study more effectively because I've spent some precious time writing, then it pays off in the end. Anyway, that's what I tell myself. I hope I'm right.
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